‘We are looking to do things better’ – Arsenal seeking improvement against Manchester United says Slegers | OneFootball

Arsenal head coach Renée Slegers says that her side will be keen to do better when they face Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium this weekend.

The Gunners have taken four points from their opening two games but were held to a surprise goalless draw with Crystal Palace last time out. Manchester United travel to North London after suffering back-to-back defeats.

When speaking to the media in the pre-match press conference, Slegers acknowledged Manchester United’s poor start but said that the focus is on her side performing to a higher level.

“Of course, I can imagine they’re not happy with the start of their season,” Slegers said. “They’re going to come to the Emirates, let’s see what their plan is, how they’re going to attack this game.

“I think what’s important for us is that we have the focus on ourselves because we come away from Brighton, which was a good win in an away game at Crawley, but then of course, we weren’t satisfied and we were frustrated with the game against Palace at Emirates. We are looking to do things better for ourselves, so there’s a big focus on ourselves, but of course, always respecting the opposition.”

Arsenal have the opportunity to go 20 league matches unbeaten. While that would be some achievement, Slegers wants to reduce the number of games that end level.

She said “It’s mixed emotions when I hear that; it’s very positive that we’re hard to beat and that’s what we feel about ourselves, but also with some recency bias as well of the last game against Crystal Palace where we weren’t able to score that goal, and didn’t get the win. Of course, we’re proud, but at the same time there are some draws in there like the last one against Palace. When I put that with some of the draws we had last year, it’s different for me; if I look at the dominance in the game and expected chances and goals, amount of shots, it’s much higher than what we had last year and we’re on top of things. It is different, but it’s a draw again.”

Arsenal’s next three league encounters see them face Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City and Slegers is excited by that prospect.

She said “We’re playing those three opponents all in a row and I love the challenge. I think it’s good for us that we play those teams early on. We want to take the challenge, we’re excited about the challenge, I look forward to it.

“Of course, there’s a busy schedule coming up for us with the Champions League games in between as well, but I look forward to it.”

Arsenal’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Manchester United kicks-off at 5.30pm on Saturday evening.